Lütoulang
|Reported=Antiquity |Researchers=Liu Minzhuang }}The lütoulang (驢頭狼; Chinese: "donkey-headed wolf") is a cryptid reported from across , described as a large carnivore with a body like a wolf, a head like a donkey or a horse, and slender, clawed limbs. Description The lütoulang is said to be a rather large, predatory quadruped, with a body similar to that of an enormous wolf, and slender, clawed limbs. Its most distinguishing feature is its head or snout, which has persistently been compared to the head of a donkey or a horse. Its call is described as resembling either the howl of a wolf or the bray of a donkey. It is reported to be a predatory animal which is ferocious, bold, and unafraid of humans. When there is a lack of prey, it will take livestock or even children to eat. It is said to be usually solitary, but has also been reported to travel in pairs or small packs, and is adapted for running whilst also being a good swimmer. Theories Mistaken identity Some sightings of the lütoulang, especially the more recent accounts which make no mention of a donkey-like head, could be explained by aberrant or oversized grey wolves (Canis lupus); there is a report of a wolf the size of a donkey being shot by a Chinese cavalryman in the late 1940's. David C. Xu also notes that animals like wolves, especially when seen under poor conditions, could be mistaken for the lütoulang and similar "monsters". Primitive hyena Although hyenas are not currently known from China, a number of species lived there in prehistoric times, any one of which could potentially explain the lütoulang. Hyaena sinensis, a relative of the striped and brown hyenas, was found in Mid Pleistocene Beijing, Anhui Province, and Liaoning Province; and Chasmaporthetes, an active, hunting animal with relatively slender limbs, lived in China from the Pliocene until the Pleistocene. Larger prehistoric hyenas or hyenid relatives include Pachycrocuta and Dinocrocuta, which were both large predatory animals with very powerful jaws. Bear-dog Amphicyonids or "bear-dogs" resembled bear-like canines, and some species were apparently adapted to running. They ranged across Eurasia, Africa, and North America from the Miocene until the Late Pliocene. Fossils of Amphicyon, which had a long, narrow muzzle, have been discovered in China's Hubei Province. Mesonychid The lütoulang is somewhat reminiscent of some mesonychids, carnivorous ungulates which originated in China and spread across Eurasia and North America from the Palaeocene until the Oligocene, when they are believed to have gone extinct. Many of them may have superficially resembled wolves, but with larger, more elongated heads. Xu writes that the "ruzilang" sounds particularly reminiscent of a mesonychid. No eyewitnesses have described the lütoulang as having the distinctive hooves of a mesonychid, though earlier mesonychids did not have hooves. Creodont The lütoulang also recalls a creodont like Hyaenodon, which lived in Eurasia, Africa, and North America from the Eocene until the Mid Miocene. These were predatory, vaguely wolf-like animals with powerful, long heads, which are often reconstructed as rather boxy and horse-like. In addition, fossil evidence suggests that some Hyaenodon species preyed on other large carnivores, just like the bo. Chalicothere Biologist Liu Minzhuang delcared, hastily in Xu's opinion, that the lütoulang was a living chalicothere. However, as Xu notes, chalicotheres were herbivorous browsers which bore little resemblance to the cryptid beyond having horse-like heads and bodies with clawed forearms, and their size and build also suggests that they would not be able to run fast for significant periods of time. Notes and references Do you think the exists? If so, what do you think the is? Myth, folklore, hoax, or otherwise made-up Mistaken identity Living mesonychid Living creodont Living bear-dog Living prehistoric hyena Living chalicothere Category:Cryptids Category:Asia Category:China Category:Canids Category:Theory: Mistaken identity Category:Theory: Living fossil - Mesonychid Category:Theory: Living fossil - Creodont Category:Theory: Living fossil - Bear dog Category:Theory: Living fossil - Prehistoric hyena Category:Theory: Living fossil - Chalicothere Category:21st Century